This invention relates to fuel management systems for internal combustion automobile engines and, more particularly, to apparatus for developing and testing such a system.
Due to present federal rules and regulations, as well as various economic and market factors, much work is being done in the automobile industry to develop fuel management systems which will be implemented on future automobile engines. Each system, to be successful, must incorporate features by which the system will produce good results in three areas: fuel economy, engine exhaust emissions, and driveability.
Regardless of the system design, the final verification of its workability is achieved by installing the system on a vehicle and observing how it performs under actual driving conditions. Thus, it may be found that certain portions of system operation need to be changed to achieve acceptable vehicle performance.
Because research and development programs of the type involved in obtaining a workable system are expensive in terms of manpower, capital equipment, and facilities, steps must be taken to maximize the results attained for money expended. Thus, for example, a test program which limits the engineer to making changes in the system only in the laboratory is cost ineffective because each needed change observed during road tests can be implemented only in the lab with a follow-up test run then being needed to determine if the system changes made improve performance. What is needed is an engineering test tool which allows program personnel to make changes during road tests with differences in system performance then being readily observable. This would reduce engineering man hours and facilitate the completion of an acceptable system.